


The First Date

by Mrs2a4



Category: Benedict Cumberbatch - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-10
Updated: 2013-08-10
Packaged: 2017-12-23 00:39:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/919943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrs2a4/pseuds/Mrs2a4
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A boy and a girl go on a date after knowing each other for quite a while. They built up a wonderful friendship around their mutual adoration for theatre and other arts. But will it be enough to work out in the end?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First Date

I rushed down to open the door. Shortly about to have a nervous breakdown, I stopped before the mirror to check on me for the 100th time. Why would someone like him want to go out with me? Me, the ordinary awkward little girl with the strange humor and the big nose. But he would. He said yes. He was standing in front of the door waiting for me to take me to the theatre.   
My hands were shivering. I was being completely ridiculous. It wasn't even the first time we would go to the theatre together. Except that it had been as friends and this time, I couldn’t believe it myself, this time it ran under the title "Date". I hated the word "Date". That word made me want to vomit. I would hear it and i would get tense immediately. I have never had any good experiences to thrive from when it came to dates. It always ended in a disaster or him disliking me.   
There was a difference this time though. We had gone to theatre together before, as friends. It would be the absolute same routine. ’IT WOULD BE THE SAME’, I repeated in my head putting the hand on the doorknob. I took a deep breath and opened the door.  
There he stood. Well dressed in a suit, towering over me, even though I stood one step above him. His dark reddish hair, normally flowing in wild curls, was slightly gelled back. He had never worn his hair like this before. I noticed his hands making tense fists. He was nervous as well.  
We stood there, frozen in our positions, looking at each other shyly. His bright and light blue eyes hypnotized me every time I dared to look at them. Normally you could see bubbly happiness mixed with curiousness and kindness inside them. Today they were filled with a little worry. It made me slightly less anxious, knowing he wasn't that confident as well. We were still looking at each other and the tension just broke through. We burst out into laughter. How ridiculous were we? We have had so many great nights together, geeking about various theatre plays, books and films we loved. Never did we ever have such an awkward pause. Usually we would be sitting in a cafe or a bar talking all night, refusing to go to bed before sunset.   
"We are being stupid aren't we?" I asked. He smiled at me with his piercing blue eyes.  
"We are. I guess that is the thrill of the title 'Date'".   
I felt relieved. However, the adrenalin was still pumping through my body. He looked so stunning. I couldn't believe my luck. I closed the door behind me, swung my handbag over my shoulder and linked arms with him. ’Be courageous, you know he likes you, there is nothing to be afraid of’, I told myself. Instead improving my confidence, my mind just made a jump ahead.   
’He will kiss you at the end of the night! You know he likes you and he knows you like him. No one ever said it out loud, but you know. He will kiss you! What if you have forgotten about how to kiss? What if you are a bad kisser and no one has ever told you? What if he will never call you again after this? You will have messed up the best friendship.’  
I felt my nervousness taking over once more while we were walking arm in arm down the street to the tube station.   
I was so focused on my inner conversation that I had totally forgotten about him.   
"Are you alright?“, he cut into my inner dispute.   
"Yeah, yeah, sorry", I stuttered. He halted and turned to me.  
"It's OK. Let's just make this like every evening. Let 's not put too much pressure on…"   
„No, no it’s alright. We should... I am just….“   
I didn't know where I originally wanted to go with the sentence and searched for words."I am afraid I ll mess up and drain our friendship down the toilet." There you go. Honesty! Always be honest.   
His facial expressions softened and a slight smile flickered over his mouth.   
"You won't. I know you won't. I know you well enough to foresee that it will rather be me messing up than you."   
I couldn't imagine such thing. Our meetings have always been such a joy. HE has always been such a joy. I have never felt so happy around anybody and I have never been so confident in just being myself like in his presence. I shook my head and grabbed his arm again.   
"Let's go", I said and we continued our walk to the tube station.   
This time we started talking about the play we were going to and the actors and our expectations for the adaptation of the original and so much more. Suddenly we were ourselves again and the tube ride of 45 min just flew by like 5. 

When we arrived at the theatre building, darkness had fallen over the London skyline and the lights of the skyscrapers and buildings gave the city its distinguished character. We entered the modern held theatre and searched for our seats after showing the tickets to the ticket inspector. We had managed to get two of the last tickets available for this highly popular play. Unfortunately the best seats had already been taken. This meant we were on the upper balcony on the very far left corner. Our sight was slightly blocked and we were sitting last in row. On a positive note, it meant more privacy for us not sitting in the middle of everybody. My nervousness came back. What if we kissed in this little corner, right here in the theatre? My heart was beating in my chest like I just had done a marathon.   
If I would even be mentally present to watch the play? I turned to him.   
"You know, taking into consideration that we were looking forward to seeing this play for months now, it would be lovely to see it in full. Do you think there will be any chance at all?“  
He raised his eyebrow, not understanding what I meant at first, but then he formed an ’OOOHHH’ with his mouth. He looked down shyly and grinned.   
"Yes, sure. We will. No distractions at all." With a firm nod, he turned his body to the front and completely focused on the stage." I had to laugh at his overly done gesture. I noticed that I had bought myself time with this comment and I now felt less anxious about the lights going out. Still, one part of me was cursing me for this. Why would I want to buy myself time? I wanted him!  
While he sternly stared to the stage, I fixated his face and checked if the features I loved so much were still existent. The freckles on his neck, the well shaped soft looking lips, his long naturally curled eyelashes, the few red coloured beard stubbles near his ear. He never seemed to catch those fully with his razor. His naturally messy curls had been successfully fighting the straightening gel at the back of his head. You could see a few waves here and there and I hoped by the end of the night they would have won full control again.   
He must have felt being watched because he turned his head and our eyes met. In that very moment the lights went out and the curtain raised. We were still looking at each other. I didn't know what to do, so I followed my gut. I took his hand and directed my attention to the stage with a smile on my face. I felt our fingers gearing into each other and his thumb slightly caressing the back of my hand. My heart was pumping fast and my stomach made a U-turn, but it was still the greatest feeling. Happiness filled me up completely. ’Exactly that tension at the beginning of every relationship was what made love such an unforgettable experience in life.’, I thought and I felt the warm feeling of love and lightness in my chest. At that moment there was just him, me and the stage. I could have sworn there were no other people in the room.   
The whole play through we held hands, with him occasionally letting his thumb wander around the back of my hand. It gave me shivers of excitement every time. I tried really hard to focus on the play, but quite honestly couldn't keep it straight all the time.   
The lights turned on for the break. Everyone got up at once and left for the great entrance hall where beverages were served. We stayed in our seats, hand in hand and listened to the humming sound of hundreds of people talking at the same time. „It was a very well done first part, wasn't it?“, he asked. "Do you want something to drink?" My hand-grip tightened slightly. I saw the joy in his eyes about that and he returned the gesture. I actually didn't want to get up, I wanted to stay here, with him, alone.   
"Ok, let's go.“, I heard myself saying and wondered why.   
As we entered the entrance hall, where hundreds of conversations blurred into one massive sound, I was still holding his hand. It took ages to make our way to the bar and get something to drink. We joked around to shorten the waiting time and as we had our gin&tonics a bell rang for signaling the end of the break. The mass of viewers that had been making their way out before were now heading inside again. "Damn, we got the last seats in row.“, I worried. „We will have to make a lot of people stand up when passing through again.“  
He sipped on his glass, his eyes on the crowd and his left hand resting on my hip. We stood millimeters away from each other. I could feel his warmth which caused a tickling in my stomach.   
"Oh well, we are going to make it through in time. They at least wait 10 minutes before turning off the lights again.“   
Never had I poured down a drink faster, but he was right after all. We made our way through to our seats. I was apologizing at least a million times to the people we passed while he softly had his hand on my back, making sure I wouldn't lose balance and fall down the steeply set seat rows.   
At the moment we sat down the lights turned off. I noted that I had drunk the gin&tonic too quickly. My head felt lighter, the legs heavier and my tension had loosened. The fact that we weren't having any skin contact anymore was bothering me. I didn't want to come off as needy, so I let it go and tried to focus on the play.   
In the midst of a scene i remembered a question I had had for a long time. Probably because of the alcohol in my blood giving me the courage, I leaned over and whispered in his ear:   
"What do you think the meaning behind the word 'slings' is? I have always wondered."   
A split second he paused for thought, then came closer to my ear and murmured in his baritone voice:   
"There are several theories. Some say it is a misprint in the book, others say it means 'missile'. Both is possible. Last one makes more sense though looking at the context."   
I nodded slowly. Made sense, yes.   
As his head moved away from my ear our eyes found each other and he stopped just millimeters away from my face. The tips of our noses were touching slightly. I lost myself looking into the windows to his soul and god damn I wanted him so badly. The tickling in my tummy became a roaring scream of excitement. I let my view wander from his eyes to his lips. His mouth was lightly opened and my brain shut down automatically. His warm gin&tonic scented breath was touching my lips and I felt his hand streaking over my cheek. My head slowly bend forward. His soft warm lips on mine, pure happiness streamed through my body. My hand found its way to his neck and as our tongues played with each other everything else around us was forgotten. Time seemed to stop and the longer our kiss lasted the more passionate it got. It felt so intense that I wished we weren't in a theatre right now but somewhere I could unbutton his clothes.   
As I remembered that we were everything but alone I reluctantly pulled away from him. We looked into each other's eyes and i saw on his face that he wished we were all alone as well.   
With a smile I whispered, "I thought that we had agreed to focus on the play."   
To which he replied in his scruffy deep voice, "You started it."   
He grinned at me with the biggest grin he could offer and before i knew we were smooching again.   
I couldn't really remember the second part of the play. I didn't mind though. I was on cloud nine and had no contact plate anymore. When we stepped out into the night it was the first time I felt the urge to take a boy home on our first date. Well, basically it wasn't our first date. In the long run we had been out so many times before. It didn’t count as a first date taking that into consideration, right? That was what I tried to repeat in my head a couple of times, just to convince myself it was a good idea trying to seduce him straight away.   
"Let's walk home“, I suggested. I wanted to buy me some time for thinking about the next step. He looked at me in surprise.   
"Walking home? That's about five miles. Are you sure your shoes can handle this?"   
I loved the fact that he didn't ask me if I could handle it, but if my shoes could. I looked down at my feet and cursed myself. Earlier on I had decided to put on my high heels instead of the comfortable pumps i wore at work. This proved: choosing beauty before practicality is not always the best you can do.   
I frowned and with a smirk on his face he grabbed my hand and pulled me into the direction of the tube station.   
"You know, I would carry you, but I am an old man who rather prefers turning pages in a book than lifting heavy weights at the gym."   
"Oh well, I prefer page-turning to weightlifting, too.“, I giggled. "It was a stupid idea anyway."   
"No, I don't think so. I love wandering around London. Let’s do that some other time."   
He couldn't have been more perfect. I felt like kissing him, but for whatever reason resisted the temptation. We had reached the station. Although we were the last to leave the theatre and were still faffing about on our way to the tube, it was packed with people. As usual I was in awe of how organized this city was. Security handled the big crowd brilliantly and the tube tact had been shortened.   
It didn't take long until we had managed to reach our train and where squeezed into one of the carriages. The fact that we had no choice but to be pressed against each other until we had reached the destination made me happy.   
We clasped to one another and I put my head on his chest. He smelled great. This, combined with his warmth and feeling his arms around me, transported me to heaven. I tried to soak in every moment. I knew I would remember this night my entire life. It was so strange acknowledging I was experiencing right now what I would probably be keeping save in my memories forever. I closed my eyes as he kissed my head and slightly tousled through my hair with his right hand. As I looked up into his bright blue eyes, which were filled with joy, there was nothing else to think about than kissing him in the most passionate way I could present him with. The savor of his lips had changed. The alcohol had gone and all that was left was himself. There was no way of describing what he tasted like. I just knew that I loved it.   
Suddenly he backed off.   
I didn't quite understand what happened. He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the doors.   
"We have to get off here!"   
Damn, I hadn't noticed. I could have sworn we had just passed Tottenham Court Road which was still five stations away from our destination. We fought our way through the cooped up people and had just jumped off the carriage onto the platform as the door closed. I stumbled, but he caught me quickly.   
Thinking about it, it couldn't have been more of a cliché. Had I found myself in a Disney film? Where was the fairy? Would this dream end when the bell had rung for the 12th time? I sneaked at my watch. It was five minutes past twelve. Thank god! I was still here, with him, and I hadn’t transformed into a frog or something similar.  
"What's up. Have you got another date to attend to?“, he asked cheekily.  
Astounded about my childish thoughts i replied in a rather agitated manner.   
"No…No…was just wondering… what time…"   
I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the exit in the hope that this moment would pass by quickly and unnoticed. He looked a bit startled, but followed without hesitation.   
At the escalators I remembered the issue I had coming up. Would I invite him into my home? I turned around to look at him standing one step behind me. Our faces were now at about the same height and before I could react he kissed me. The wish for more knocked on my door again. I wanted to taste more of him, feel more of him, just love him. This time, I made sure I wouldn't forget the world around me completely. Before we reached the end of the escalator, I turned around and hopped onto solid ground. Still holding hands, we made our way outside onto the pavement.   
When reaching my doorstep, we found ourselves in exactly the same position we had started off the evening. Never had we been so silent while going home. But it wasn't an awkward silence, it rather felt like we wouldn't need any words right now to express ourselves. The air was filled with happiness and being eagerly determined to soak up the joy about what just had happened between us tonight.   
I took his head into my hands and pulled him towards me just to feel his lips on mine again. It was like a drug. I couldn't get enough. The way he kissed me back revealed that he thought the same. Maybe, if we stood here long enough, I would never have to make the decision whether or not I wanted to invite him in. At least that was what I was hoping for. Certainly, it didn’t work out. He softly stopped our kiss and deeply looked into my eyes.   
"Do you want me to come in?“, he whispered.   
My heart missed a beat and I didn't quite know what to answer. I wanted him so much. He noticed my hesitation.   
"Nothing needs to happen tonight. I just want to be with you, sleeping next to you. Only if that is what you want as well of course."   
My knees felt shaky. That was the first time in my life I heard someone say he just wanted to be with me. The first time without any pressure whatsoever.   
Just being with each other? Yes!   
I had said the last words out loud. Without thinking much, I took out my keys, opened the door and pulled him inside. It was done. There he was, inside my home, and suddenly just being with each other tonight wouldn't suffice for me anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> The male character is inspired by Mr. Cumberbatch.
> 
> English is not my first language. I am sorry if there are mistakes. Feel free to text me on my blog http://mrslondonite.tumblr.com


End file.
